‘Fargo’ Discussion: ‘Lester, Is This What You Want?’

We’ve all seen enough television to know the traditional moves a show will use to drag you to the edge of your seat: the editing tricks, the musical cues, the drawn out silences that linger a second longer than you’re comfortable with, etc. Even if you can’t articulate them from an advanced film study perspective, you recognize it when they happen, mostly because you feel unsettled almost all of the way to your core, and that is generally the type of thing one notices.

Where Fargo is brilliant, especially in last night’s episode, is the way the show plays with this kind of tension. So, yes, sometimes it will build and build and build and then pay it all off immediately, like in the elevator at the beginning of the episode or in Lester’s office at the end (both of which we will be discussing at length, once we all collectively recover, which should happen sometime between a few paragraphs from now and NEVER). But other times the show will build and build and build in the exact same way, and then … nothing. The scene in the diner with Lorne and Molly’s dad, the thing where Lester was looking out his window and into the woods after fleeing Vegas, both textbook examples of a set-up that led to no immediate resolution. The result of all this is that you, the viewer, are left with no concrete idea of what’s going to happen at any point in the show, which ramps up the tension even more, stretched over the full 60 minutes, to the point that the stress of whole thing has probably taken a few months off of the end of all our lives. This, to be clear, is not a complaint.

But let’s dig into the stuff from last night. We begin with a simple question.

Lemme answer that one for you, friendo: No, it is not what you want. It might be what you think you want as you stand in that elevator with the artificial confidence from your Salesman of the Year victory and the “dangerous” libation you just ordered coursing through your veins, but no, Mr. Fancy Haircut Man, you do not actually want this. Because “this” will bring everything to a screeching halt: Your new happy life as a wealthy small business owner, Lorne’s six-month dentist caper, the lives of the strangers in the elevator, one of whom is Stephen Root and another of whom is a very nice lady who will put her thumb all the way up your butt if you treat her right. But you’re a big macho tough guy now, so, you know, say yes. See what happens. Spoiler alert: PEW PEW PEW.

All of which brings up another point: LORNE MALVO. If you are still, somehow, in Episode 9 of the show’s 10-episode run, trying to figure out what kind of guy Lorne Malvo is, here’s your answer: He will become proficient enough at dentistry to go deep undercover for six full months, finding a sweetheart in the process just to frost the ruse, all to collect a $100,000 bounty on a snitch, which isn’t really even all that much money when you consider how much time and effort he put into the whole thing. (Again, he learned how to be a dentist. That’s the real story here.) And then, the second things start to go awry, he will calmly cut bait and put a bullet in everyone inside a building that is lousy with surveillance cameras, just to make a point. Also, sometimes he will scare the sh*t out of your children for literally no reason at all. Malvo.

fx

Let’s move to a lighter note, briefly: Solverson, Key, and Peele are on the case, as Molly’s giant conspiracy board has finally been seen by someone with a lick of sense. (NOTE: Does she have two conspiracy boards? Because we’ve seen one on the white board in the police station and one all over the wall of her home office. She’s either spending a fortune on markers and staples, or she’s taking it down and reassembling it every time someone wants to see it. Geez, lady. Make a Powerpoint.) God bless Bob Odenkirk and his second prominent character with an awful combover, but I let out an audible cheer when Special Agent Key shut him down. It’s about to get quite serious. To quote Molly Solverson herself, “Watch your butts.” (And if you haven’t read Josh’s interview with Allison Tolman yet, please do that immediately.)

…

…

…

Okay, now, the ending. I’ll be honest, I still don’t know if I’m fully ready to talk about what happened at Lester’s office. And so, in lieu of actual analysis, I present the full and complete notes I took in real-time as it happened, beginning with the car ride there:

– Favorite scene of the night: Lorne and Molly’s dad in the diner. Hoo partner, was that ever nerve-racking. I thought for sure the elder Solverson was a goner, especially since we were well into the penultimate episode of the season and we hadn’t had a major death yet. I was very relieved to see him escape with his life.

– We’ve seen other references to Lorne being the devil between the biblical imagery with Stavros and his beyond human ability/desire to bring destruction, but I don’t think any have been more clear than his Garden of Eden reference in the diner. Malvo is Beelzebub. Beelzebub is Malvo. Proceed accordingly.

– Oh, and speaking of the phrase “Hoo partner,” last night marked the second time Lorne has used it while undercover, the first being his interrogation at the police station as Rev. Frank Peterson. My point here is twofold: 1) Methinks Lorne has a tell; and 2) If you ever hear a mysterious, oddly polite newcomer drop that phrase in conversation, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, RUN.

– “I’m a rascal. There’s no two ways about it.” – Lorne Malvo, making one of the more substantial understatement in history.

– Finally, a heartfelt Rest in Peace to Lester’s second wife, Linda. You were a sweet, naive lady with terrible taste in men, who spent a not insignificant part of her life scrubbing feces off of motel box springs, and who was happy to look a nosy, pregnant police officer in the eye and lielielie if it meant a shot at preserving the cozy life you built with the creep whose first wife died under mysterious circumstances and who was now being questioned about a triple murder in Las Vegas. You will be missed.

As always, your thoughts below. And thanks to Chet Manley for the GIFs. Finale next week. Someone find me a paper bag to hyperventilate into.

‘Fargo’ Discussion: ‘Lester, Is This What You Want?’

Join The Discussion: Log In With

So is anyone else intensely afraid that Gus is gonna do something? Not only does he know everyone’s address, but he know a red car with danger is in town. I think he’s going to try to vindicate himself.

Just now in the shower, I realized the genius of the Lester/Malvo interaction happening in Vegas. The number one problem for gamblers is not knowing when to stop/cut bait/fold ’em. Lester pushed beyond the point where he should have stopped and is now in a heap of shit. Malvo, on the other hand, knew exactly when to cut his losses with the dentist facade.

That was great. I was also laughing so hard at how terrible Lester has become at the end. He’s so terrible but the way they play it with dark humor really goes with how they’re honoring the Coens.

The garden of Eden line worries me a little though…. I don’t want Lorne to actually be THE devil. I know that’s more of a metaphor at this point, but it would be kind of disappointing to bring in a supernatural element to this. I like him more as just some mysterious bringer of chaos and destruction.

I totally think that Lorne is just really lonely and he’s trying to find someone as evil as he is. I like to think that he thinks he’s found a “soul-mate” in Lester. The “ah shucks Lester” moment when he got hit in the head was priceless.

I think you’re being a little presumptuous. Who’s to say that Lorne Malvo wasn’t top of his class in dentistry school before turning to a life of crime? He does have nice teeth. Then, suddenly, a bounty comes along. One that would require him to go undercover as a dentist? What luck! No other hitman, no lowly goon, no simple gangster can just slip into that profession. No one except good ol’ Lorne Malvo. Or as his old dentistry classmates used to call him… “Aces”.

This may have been touched on, but my wife just watched the episode and while discussing it I realized….holy shit, Lester is directly responsibly for over 30 deaths.

His meeting with Malvo got Sam Hess killed.
He killed his wife.
That got the sheriff killed.
Sam’s death brought on the hitmen, one of whom died and they killed at least 1 other person.
I think Lorne killed the guy in the office to find out who sent the hitmen.
That spawned him killing 22 at the syndicate.
Then the 3 in the elevator due to Lester’s interfering.
Then his second wife.

This would be a great setup for season 2 – all new cast etc. I didn’t get the feeling so much Molly’s dad was the killer as much as he was implying he could sense the particular kind of evil surrounding Malvo.

I loved it, but I can’t imagine in a years time, Molly’s ex State Trooper dad hasn’t seen any of Molly’s crazy collage shit and wouldn’t have an idea who Malvo was sitting right in front of him. Good thing he didn’t order the cherry pie I guess.

This is true, but it’s obvious the Dad senses Malvo is pure malevolence, and has shown he has left that life to be a Dad to his daughter, who he will protect, even if it means stifling her case to keep her as far away from such evil.

I think he knew who it was, and would never send his daughter after that kind of thing.

I thought the same. Maybe he just didn’t want to be involved with her investigation, other than advice? She wouldn’t necessarily need to show the board to him in order to ask for some tips on how to go forward.

I’ll be curious to see if Stravos and the Deaf Assassin return in the finale or not. The Stravos storyline really seems to have just been dropped suddenly after the final plague (death of the first born)

The whole series has been about honoring the Coens, so it’s a nice inside joke callback to the movie, which also had the tagline even though it wasn’t true. I love how they’ve been taking it further with the line every episode, “Out of respect for the dead, everything else has been told EXACTLY as it occurred.”

1. How do we know Malvo learned how to become a dentist for that job, and didn’t just have a history of dental experience?? HOW WILL THIS PLAY INTO THE FINALE? THEORIES????

2. I think this episode, as great as it was, suffered from having to wait a week, as I just kept saying to myself “there’s no way Lester would be dumb enough to poke that bear.” However, I think that scene had come after us seeing all the fake confidence he had built up it would have been more believable. Just a small quibble in an otherwise great ep!

There was a line Malvo said to the patient about how after being awake after 3 days straight on amphetamines he was just an ‘animal’.
I was wondering whether that might have been a little tidbit of truth, you know how deep into the whole wolf/predator, we’re all animals thing Malvo is.
Thought maybe he might of had an epiphany of sorts. (Similar to how he awoke something in Lester that brought about his change).

Lester wanted to show Malvo that he was now a big shot and not the quiet, wimpy guy Malvo met in that emergency room. When Malvo pretended not to know him, Lester got offended. His new self-confident ego couldn’t take the hit, so he followed Malvo to the elevator and continued the confrontation, not realizing or remembering what kind of man he was dealing with.

Think Lester was having conflicting thoughts of “Oh shit he sounds like he’s going to kill me” and “Who cares, you are a man now, you can handle anything!” Unfortunately, that was just his really inflated ego talking

I forget what episode but they showed the two agents (Key and Peele) sitting on a bench both were wearing dark pants and black shoes. One had bright argyle socks, the other had white gym socks. The camera was very deliberate in showing those socks so I think that body is one of them.

One thing I didn’t catch is how they knew Solverson was involved with, or witness to, the 3 murders in Vegas. They showed Solverson getting a call with the info and that a witness was Lester Nygaard. But how was Lester identified? Security cameras? Malvo himself calling in a tip, just to bring more paranoia and chaos to Lester’s world?

I think it’s intentionally vague. But my best guess was that LVPD got the security camera footage from the elevator (over Malvo’s left shoulder, so he’s unidentifiable). And saw a guy that fits Lester’s description and coupled that with the fact that he checked out immediately. So the LVPD are using local PD to follow up on Lester. And next week, when the photos come in, shit will hit the fan.

You guys are all wrong, because the second you get to the next river you gotta deal with all this again.

First, you find a bunch of Gypsies. That shouldn’t be too hard since this scenario obviously takes place in Europe where Gypsies are in abundance. Then you bet them on whether the fox will get the rabbit when you let them go. This is called “coursing,” and if the fine British underworld documentary Snatch has taught us anything, it’s that Gypsies love coursing. Now, knowing that the fox will definitely eat the rabbit the moment you leave them alone together (because if he didn’t you wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place), you trick them into betting the rabbit will run free… which is tricky. You know, because they’re Gypsies, and Gypsies know tricky. Then you release the rabbit and fox, at which point the fox immediately catches and eats the rabbit, and you clean up. Oh, and you sell the Gypsies the cabbage as a snack for the event, because Gypsies love cabbage.

So then you get on your boat and row across the river with all your Gypsy loot as quick as you can because the Gypsies are pissed, and if there’s a second thing the fine British underworld documentary Snatch taught us, it’s that pissed Gypsies are avid practitioners of shotgun justice. Once across, you use the cash and the boat to trade up to a bigger boat and buy a new fox and rabbit and cabbage. Then, because you really gouged the Gypsies when you sold em that cabbage, you have just enough left to buy some cages that you stack on the back of your bigger boat so you don’t have to worry about being in this ridiculous situation again.

We’ve seen Malvo bash his wife’s head in with a hammer, cover up the murder of the sheriff, frame his own brother for these murders while driving his sister-in-law and son away, con a widow into sleeping with him and become a serial cheater and asshole….AND STILL, seeing him set poor innocent, clueless Linda up to be taken out by Lorne “The Devil” Malvo felt like the most evil thing he could do.

As for Linda, honey, some people are just shit on the inside and you can’t clean that up.

A friend on Twitter wondered last night why Chazz ended up taking the fall for Lester. Didn’t Chazz have an alibi for the night that Pearl and the chief were killed? Maybe it didn’t hold up, especially if Chazz’s wife testified against him or something like that. It seems like an odd detail but a small nit overall.

I thought Lester’s new house looked like Chazz’s house. Actually, at first I thought it was the widow Hess’ house. I wouldn’t have been surprised to find out that Lester had used his newfound money and personality to take the Hess house or his brother’s house.

I also could not breathe during the diner scene. I couldn’t stop looking at the cars going past the window, expecting to see Molly’s car pull in at any moment.

Also, Chazz is going to have a hell of a civil lawsuit against Bemidiji PD and DA office when he’s released. Especially once it comes out that an officer was investigating someone else THE WHOLE TIME and the police and DA just ignored it. Cha-Ching!

The murder trial could easily have been delayed well over a year due to an ongoing federal investigation into the stolen machine gun. Which, incidentally, would put him away for a long time regardless of the findings with the murder investigation.

The scene with Molly’s dad and Malvo is the best scene on TV in recent memory. And a brilliant setup – after the interaction between Grandpa Molly’s dad and Greta, I thought he was a goner in the Malvo scene.

Billy Bob may not have the most range, but he absolutely kills it when you throw a pitch in his wheelhouse.

For all the hate directed at Colin Hanks (which has been deserved), he’s also killing this role (although is there a single actor who doesn’t seem perfect on this show?).

Actually, yes, one actor who I can’t stand on this show…Bob Odenkirk. I’m prepared to be flamed for this, but I just can’t stand the guy. He’s lousy in everything, and I don’t get the constant praise he gets. Mr. Show sucked (despite David Cross, who, while a complete douche, is funny).

No. Satan fell from grace much later than the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were the first two people and Satan fell from grace after there was a whole shit ton of people. The Garden of Eden is meant to show our evolution from animals into sentient beings occured. Malvo is the serpent, I think, which is representative of temptation, not Satan. But I still don’t know what the hell that line had to do with anything. Pretty over the top.

Is that when Malvo decided Lester had to die? He was so chummy with him before that and even asked for help disposing the bodies. When you see a man murder three strangers and spare you, keep him on your good side.

What did Malvo say, something like “Oww Lester” hahahah, that was f’n aces. Agreed, I don’t think he wanted to hurt Lester at all, he was actually happy to murk three innocent ppl, because “of the look on their faces, priceless” I kinda think he still doesn’t want to kill him, yet, I got a vibe that Malvo was almost impressed with him sending a decoy into office

I got the feeling Malvo respected Lester for getting out of the shitstorm and taking the world by the balls. They were going to be buddy assassins in Malvo’s eyes until Lester turned on him. He had a sort of joy in his voice when he asked Lester to grab the fat one.

Yeah you almost get the feeling if Lester had grabbed that guys boots Malvo would have let him in on some of his action. Though you have to wonder if the first thing Malvo would have had Lester do was kill his own wife again.

I did like the wink from Malvo to lester when he shoots his fiance, because ice cold.

Yeah, I think he would have shot Lester there if he didn’t respect what he did to his own brother to survive and succeed. He mentioned in one of the earlier episodes about adapting and natural selection. Then Lester had to go all Nygaard on the bit.

You would think Molly’s dad would mention to her daughter a conversation he just had with a really strange and scary fellow who was asking about Lester. Maybe he didn’t want her to get involved in anymore shootouts while she’s pregnant.

I am not they kind of viewer that points out flaws in a show or movie (but a show as great as Fargo sometimes flaws stand out even more because they are so few and far between and besides there are usually reasons for them but who wants to sit through boring exposition for EVERY little thing) but here I go…

They always made such a big deal about Molly’s dad being an ex-cop and they are so close I find it really hard to believe that at no time in the last year did Molly ask her dad’s opinion on the case that has stumper her for so long and in the process showing him her big board-o-evidence. She had one of those boards at her house and he never saw it while visiting? Because if he did he would have seen Lorne’s picture and then known who he was at the diner. Hell, one would think that she would show everyone she knew a picture of Lorn just so they knew to look out for a potential psychopath.

That really stands out to me because the idea of the “family of cops” has been really front and center for this show.

@ewaj I know where you’re coming from… But, it has been over a year, there isn’t a very clear picture of Malvo. Yes, his new hair style is on the same playing field as Clark Kent’s glasses disguise, but, probably big enough to throw off a grandpa who sees a lot of faces everyday….But something did trigger an instinct of danger…. I think that’s what @Kevin the Robot was saying, he just chose not to bring it up, to keep her from trouble.

Hmmm, that does seem off that a former cop, who seems pretty sharp, and has such a clever daughter as well would miss that….Especially when he comments on her picture in coffee shop, and he knows this guy is trouble, almost instantly.

Remember, Malvo made out lou to be a cop and said he was familiar with law enforcement but not OF law enforcement. I believe that this confirmed in lou’s mind that Malvo was very dangerous. I also believe thank lou made out Malvo to be dangerous just like Malvo made out lou to be a cop, instinct.

The Dad seems to basically know who he is, and treads lightly. He knows what his daughter is chasing. He left the force to be a Dad after the Mom died. The parallel with Colin Hanks situation can’t be lost. It’s just such a perfectly crafted show, there is no possible way that was a mistake. It’ll be addressed the Dad knew, and was probably expecting to die. No way was he about to send his only daughter after that thing.

The boards we’ve seen are the hospital window, which was either hidden from the father or not there when he was, the one in the station, where he mostly likely does not tread since he wants to distance himself from his law enforcement past, and one in the new home’s bedroom. Maybe it’s an old-fashioned upper-Midwestern attitude, but a father in this region would not go out of his way to intrude into the room holding his daughter’s wedding bed. I know I don’t make a habit of going into my parents’ bedroom when I visit them, and they’ve so far returned the favor when visiting me.

It seems far more likely that the story of the unsolved homicides was one from Malvo’s younger days, and part of the reason he left so easily was knowing the discord he sowed in those days still lingers.

Lester has to be worse than Walter White at this point, right? I mean, it took Walt several seasons before he started doing really evil shit. Lester’s time on this earth is coming to an end very soon, I’m sure, but given a couple of seasons he probably would have hit Joffery levels of awfulness.

@Otto Man I’d call Lester’s a little worse, if only because of the jacket. He wanted to make sure that if Malvo was there, he wouldn’t know that the person wasn’t Lester til it was too late. Walt at least let it be obvious that it was just some old women coming in and not worth killing.

I laughed so hard at Lester’s shittyness in the last scene. It was truly impressive. Also, the framing of the shot in Vegas after Malvo has shot Root and co. makes him look like a fallen angel with blood-stained wings.

So we’re supposed to believe that Malvo thought it was Lester that he shot at the end, even after it was done? I can understand taking the shot, but I find it hard to believe that he wouldn’t at least take a peek at the head and/or face and make sure it was who he thought it was before strolling away victoriously.

Yeah, he definitely checked the body, saw that it wasn’t Lester, then spun around and looked out the window. When he came outside, he eventually focused on Lester’s car. But, instead of charging, he just lit a cigarette, paused, and then walked on. I think he decided to let Lester live in fear a bit longer before attacking, just to fuck with him. Why? Because he’s Lorne Malvo, that’s why.

A question that I’ve been pondering since last night: Do you think Lester was always a loose end Malvo was going to tie up (murder) eventually or did he flush his happy life full of confidence and adorable Asian wives down the toilet just to prove he’s braver than he was? Was Malvo always going to kill him or did he decide to after the elevator adventure?

I agree with the theory that Malvo is Satan (or at least his earthly right hand man), and he has to follow the rules, which require that he gives everyone a choice before they decide whether to sell their soul. Of course, he tries to push people in his direction, whether it’s convicting them to piss in a gas tank, come see him when they get out of the hospital, or kill their childhood bully. But he still has to give them the option. If Lester doesn’t get in the elevator, Malvo isn’t coming after him, at least not as soon.